New Year, Some New Leadership for Berkshire County
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 2023 will bring some new and familiar leadership to Berkshire County and beyond as a new term begins.
The county will see a new district attorney, an incumbent sheriff, returning state representatives, and a new representative in the Senate. This is all under the leadership of a new administration led — beginning Thursday — by Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.
Timothy Shugrue will take over the Berkshire County district attorney's office on Wednesday at 3 p.m. after winning the primary election in September against Andrea Harrington. He had no opponent in the general election.
He pledged to make Berkshire County safer by prosecuting low-level offenders, like shoplifters, as part of a strategy to change their behavior and using diversion programs.
Harrington prosecuted on a progressive platform that often dismisses prosecution of low-level crimes or uses diversion programs rather jail, eliminated cash bail, and seeks treatment for drug abusers instead of incarceration.
Shugrue felt her policies were a "failed experiment," claiming police weren't making arrests and residents weren't reporting crimes because they felt nothing was being done.
Sheriff Thomas Bowler will return for a third term after winning against Alf Barbalunga in the primary election. He also had no general election opponent.
The campaign was a contentious one, with Barbalunga pummeling the incumbent with allegations and critiques of his 12-year tenure.
Barbalunga, who was on leave as a chief probation officer for the Southern Berkshire District during the campaign, had proposed bringing women inmates back to Berkshire County from a facility in Chicopee and quested Bowler's commitment to drug rehab, job training, budgets, and equity.
Yet Bowler led into the election evening with nearly 80 percent of the vote.
He said he wants to continue the positive initiatives the office has started and give the community the quality of life that it deserves.
Paul Mark moved out of the House and into the state Senate after winning the general election against independent conservative candidate Brendan Phair.
Mark, a resident of Peru, will now represent most of Western Mass in the Berkshire, Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin Senate Districts. He replaces Adam Hinds, who had unsuccessfully run for lieutenant governor.
His No. 1 priority in the Senate is to make sure that this region gets every penny that it is entitled to, which he said is an "uphill battle."
Mark and Phair expressed significantly different views on abortion rights, gender-affirming care, police reform, and the Fair Share Amendment.
Due to population loss in the Census, Berkshire County lost one state representative. John Barrett III will return as the representative for the 1st Berkshire District, Tricia Farley Bouvier will represent the new 2nd Berkshire District, and William "Smitty" Pignatelli the new 3rd Berkshire District.
Tara Jacobs of North Adams will represented the 8th District (most of WMass) on the Governor's Council. She's the first Berkshire councilor in at least 70 years to be elected to the council.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal will also return to represent the 1st Congressional District after winning the general election against republican candidate Dean Martilli.
On Tuesday, outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker bid farewell to the people of the commonwealth, calling it a "very special place."
The Healey-Driscoll administration will be inaugurated in Boston on Thursday and a celebration will follow at the TD Garden.
